Between the writing of a software code and its delivery to a customer, often falls a shadow - long delays. Developers write code, but it has to be then integrated, tested at multiple levels and validated by a product manager before it can be deemed ready. Often coders and testers cannot see each other's work simultaneously, leading to a time lag in communication and, in turn, in meeting customer needs.

While large information technology companies, such as Infosys, have designed in-house processes to overcome such delays, the majority of smaller software companies have not. CloudMunch has stepped up to help solve their problem. Founded in September 2011 by two former Infosys executives, Pradeep Prabhu and Prasanna Raghavendra, it has created a platform where developers, testers, web architects, programme managers, the operations team of the company, and even customers have access to a single dashboard that tracks the progress of a code being prepared in real time. "It is a collaboration, management and orchestration platform for software applications," says a T-shirt clad, youthful Prabhu, CEO of CloudMunch. "Running apps was in our DNA and we thought creating a way to develop and deliver software faster was a huge opportunity." In geek lingo, just as there are companies offering 'software-as-a-service' (SaaS), CloudMunch provides 'platform-as-a-service' (PaaS).

Housed in a peach coloured, single storey building in Bangalore's Jayanagar, employing 15 techies, CloudMunch has so far bagged around 20 customers. One of the earliest was Jamcracker, a firm providing cloud services brokerage solutions.

"For us, the time taken from conceptualising a code to making it production ready has reduced by about 20 per cent since we started using CloudMunch's solution," says Manish Jain, Managing Director of Jamcracker's India operations. "Its value lies in continuous integration." The term refers to the need for developers, every time they change a software code, to integrate it with other codes in the application, and run tests to catch bugs early. Jamcracker founder K.B. Chandrasekhar has funded CloudMunch through a venture capital fund he runs.

"Though the market is still nascent, a platform like CloudMunch should have a very strong value proposition," says Ranjith Menon, Vice President, IDG Ventures. But a global rat race may well be starting in this segment. US-based CloudForge, for instance, released a version of what it calls 'development Platform as a Service' in April 2012, while CloudBees, started in the US in 2010, even before CloudMunch, helps customers move their entire Java application lifecycle to the cloud.